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3
PAPAKURA COURIER, MARCH 9, 2011
NEWS
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200 Great South Rd,
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Ph: 09 294 9504
Wed: Livewire Quiz
Night 7pm
Thurs: Members Draw
Fri: DJ AN.R.KI
Sat: 9pm - 1am
The Blue Collar Band
Sun: 4.30pm-7.30pm
Ted Clarke Duo in
the Garden Bar
Man sought
after attack
Police are hunting a man
who tried to sexually
assault a woman at
Karaka Lakes.
The womant was
attacked at a show home
at 2pm last Friday.
The man threatened
her with a knife but she
escaped by locking her-
self in the bathroom and
calling 111.
The man is described
as Maori, late teens to
early 20s, of slim build
and medium height. He
wore black leggings,
black t-shirt and motor-
cycle boots. He also had a
tribal tattoo on his left
bicep.
Call police
on
353-0011.
on the outlying units
QUAKE BRIEF: HOW PREPARED IS AUCKLAND?
Helping hand: The police helicopter Eagle has helped with night and day patrols of Christchurch. Pictured is senior constable tactical crew
member Bazza Gallagher. Quake: How would Auckland fare in similar circumstances (top)?
Photo: FIONA GOODALL
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
FROM Page 2
Are we ready for the big one? What do you think? Email your
letters to edmc@snl.co.nz
'
Auckland is a larger city
and damage will be
dependent on the soil
types ...
'
Civil defence boss Clive
Manley
organisations across the
region became one.
Old bases in areas like the
former Waitakere, North
Shore and Manukau cities
still exist though the bulk of
staff would be deployed as
part of the centralisation
plan.
The source, whose CV
includes 34 years of emerg-
ency work in Christchurch
and Auckland, fears the day
the new system is put to the
test.
You need to have outlying
units in times of disaster,'' he
says. You can't run every-
thing from one site. There
has to be a community
response with people immedi-
ately on the ground in affec-
ted areas. Our survival
depends on it. Air support
just won't cut it and precious
time will be wasted trying to
organise it.
Everyone
knows that it
is vital to get
people medi-
cal attention
in that first
golden hour --
it's all down
hill after
that.''
Similar concerns are raised
by long time investigative
journalist Pat Booth who still
has vivid memories of the
1995 earthquake in Kobe,
Japan and the aftermath that
he reported on after visiting
the city a year later to wit-
ness its recovery efforts.
The Leigh resident says
Aucklanders can't afford to be
complacent or think them-
selves outside of nature's
reach in terms of shifting tec-
tonic plates.
Authorities say the risk of
a major earthquake is low but
history shows the region is
not immune.
A cluster of three quakes
measuring 3.7, 4.5 and 3.8 on
the Richter scale occurred
30km east off the coast of
Orewa in February 2007. The
tremors rocked residents liv-
ing right across Auckland
between 8.24pm and 11.23pm
on a Wednesday evening.
Damage was minimal but
the jolts sent a wave of panic
through people as far away as
Titirangi.
Auckland's forefathers also
cowered at nature's unpre-
dictable might in 1891 when
a quake rattled the main cen-
tral business district for a
drawn out 30-second stretch.
The tremors were felt as
far away as Cambridge in the
south and up in the Northern
Wairoa.
Various suburbs surround-
ing the main city centre were
also affected -- most notably
Otahuhu where the public
school was evacuated.
We can't hide behind his-
tory,'' Mr Booth says. Christ-
church did that to an under-
standable degree -- not any
more. Nor should we.''
Mr Manley moves quickly
to allay concerns and says
Civil Defence has worked
with its partners to explore
every possible scenario likely
to be faced by
Aucklanders.
He says the
organisation
has the same
staff numbers
as it did
before the
birth of the
supercity and
is operating
off an identical budget.
Two vacancies incurred
through retirement are now
in the process of being filled.
We have 37 paid staff
dedicated to Civil Defence
and can draw on about 300
trained people from within
the Auckland Council,'' he
says. We also have extensive
volunteer networks in areas
like the North Shore, west
and Manukau.''
Two existing buildings at
Elcoat Ave in Henderson and
East Coast Rd, Mairangi Bay
are fully equipped to function
as alternative headquarters if
the Pitt St base is ever
rendered useless, he says.
The organisation has
updated its telecommuni-
cations equipment, satellite
phones and VHF radio gear
and could also operate out of
a makeshift site.
We could start from
scratch if we had to using the
mobile sort of equipment that
our staff are equipped with. I
believe a base could be set up
in a warehouse or something
similar in about one hour. All
of our facilities are transferr-
able.''
Mr Manley says no natural
disaster is likely to knock out
all of the city's bridges and
roads.
State Highway 18 would
still offer a vehicular con-
nection to the North Shore if
the main Auckland and
Upper Harbour bridges were
disabled and access by sea is
also part of the strategy.
It might take a little
longer but there would still
be access,'' he says. It's just
not conceivable that abso-
lutely everything would be
knocked out in a city so big.''
Liquefaction is another
story.
Auckland's landscape
differs from the terrain in
Christchurch which is
dominated by a large river
basin that contributes to the
environment
currently
causing big problems.
But a good portion of
waterfront developments in
the central business district
is built on reclaimed land and
a number of older buildings
could be susceptible.
Examples include the old
ferry building and the former
post office now redeveloped
as the Britomart transport
centre.
The integrity of larger
modern structures is less
likely to be compromised.
They don't just sit there on
shallow foundations like
some of the houses that have
been affected by liquefaction
in Christchurch,'' Mr Manley
says. The excavations for
these big buildings were huge
and they have been piled into
solid rock.''
But anything built before a
rewrite of building code
requirements during the mid
1970s is susceptible.
A report in the NZ Herald
on March 5 suggests up to
412 commercial buildings
could collapse in a moderate
quake and says details are
being kept secret while city
heads move to update
records.
Mr Manley admits some
structures may need work.
Auckland does not have
any building currently listed
as being dangerous,'' he says.
We potentially have some
that will require strengthen-
ing.''
Work has already been car-
ried out on many of them.
There is some possibility
of them being at risk in a big
one. But the chances of that
happening are remote.''
The same logic applies to
sewerage, water and power.
Mr Manley says a loss of all
three across the entire region
is highly unlikely and utility
companies have contingency
plans in place to cover a
range of scenarios depending
on where the problems occur.
He says they have also
been strengthening infra-
structure over a number of
years in anticipation of disas-
ter.
I don't want to appear too
optimistic and stress that
people still need to be able to
look after themselves and
their neighbours if they are
cut off.
We recommend that
everybody in Auckland has a
survival kit with items listed
at www.getthru.govt.nz,'' he
says.
Mr Manley says an Earth-
quake Prone Building regis-
ter is now being put together.